


Where Do We Go From Here?

by Ididntlookback



Series: Tumblr Writing Prompts- Klance/Voltron [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angry Kissing, Fighting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Stranded, Yelling, sleeping, stuck together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-26 22:53:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15011192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ididntlookback/pseuds/Ididntlookback
Summary: Lance’s look of offense turned more into one of worried confusion. “What do you mean?”“You know what I mean,” Keith said, anger still in his voice. He spoke quieter this time, though. “The things you said to me when you thought I was asleep.”AKA two pent up and angry boys are stranded on a planet together post s6. Lance says some things to a seemingly asleep Keith. Keith confronts him about it.





	Where Do We Go From Here?

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this for an anon request on tumblr: "Klance prompt thing - 'things you said to me when you thought I was asleep' Keith pov?"
> 
> I might start uploading more of my prompts here and make them into a mini series :)

“We’re stuck here,” Lance muttered, both annoyance and restlessness stinging his voice. 

Keith put his head in his hands. “No, we’re not.” 

Both of their voices were raw from the minutes of coughing and gasping they’d done after escaping the storm outside.

“Uh, yes we are! Have you been paying any attention to our situation?” 

How could Keith _not_ be paying attention? The situation he was in was practically his hell. Keith had been forced on a solo mission with Lance and was now forced to endure his frantic complaining that just stressed Keith out more. 

The team was making slow process on their journey back to Earth. Due to not having the Castle of Lions and it’s wormhole abilities, they had to travel painstakingly from one side of the universe to the other. When you add in the constant Galra attacks and stops to get supplies, that makes a long journey even longer. 

Lance and Keith's solo mission was a perfect representation of both of those problems.

They’d been tasked with buying food from an alien market on a nearby planet. Things had gone downhill pretty quickly.

The planet had some long name Keith wouldn’t even try to pronounce. The atmosphere was dry and desert like. The long stretch of desert that lead to the market place was red and rocky, similar to Mars. 

“What are the others off doing?” Lance asked as they walked. It was one of the first times either of them had spoken on their trip to the marketplace. The two… weren’t on the best of terms.

“Krolia, Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk are off getting parts to fix up the lions,” Keith answered, “and Allura and Coran are getting information on which route we should take to avoid Galra attacks.”

“And we’re just getting the food? Why do _we_ get the lame job? Also, we can do without food. Shouldn’t we be helping the others? It would get things done faster.” 

“Unless you want us to die of hunger before we reach Earth, yes, we do need food,” Keith answered, asking himself how Lance could fit so many words in with just one breath. 

“Shouldn’t there be, like, a space McDonalds up here?” Lance exclaimed, his arms held out in front of him. “At this rate we’ll never get to Earth.” 

“We’ll get there when we get there.” 

Keith was vaguely aware of Lance sending a glare his way. He didn’t reply, though. 

Though the two had been growing closer before Keith left for the Blade of Marmora, they now seemed to be fighting more than usual. 

Keith didn’t know what Lance’s deal was. He left rooms that Keith entered, he’d throw extra insults at him, and he just didn’t seem to be hanging out with the team much anymore. It wasn’t like there was much time to hang out, but on the rare occasion that they did get a small break, Lance would just yell about wanting to get to work then he’d pout in his lion. 

Lance had always been a pretty… lively and outspoken person, but at least he’d had a sense of humor. Now, it was just passive aggressive mumbles and his occasional outbursts at the team.

It wasn’t only Keith who noticed. Keith spotted the other team members eyeing each other whenever Lance acted up. Krolia had raised an eyebrow at Keith and whispered, “didn’t you tell me he was the funny one?” 

Even with this unspoken agreement as to Lance’s personality shift, Keith noticed that it was only he that Lance had been specifically avoiding. Sure, he’d distance himself from group hangouts, but it was as if Keith had a disease and Lance was adamant about not catching it. He’d throw a fit whenever he and Keith were forced to be alone together, just like the mission they were on now. 

Keith didn’t know what was up, but he wasn’t having it. What else was there to do but retaliate with his own passive aggression. Well, he could try to sit down and have a civil conversation with Lance… but that wasn’t likely. 

Maybe Keith retaliated so hard because he didn’t want to admit that it hurt his feelings a bit when Lance treated him like he used to, as if neither of them had changed throughout their time in space. Keith had just been starting to enjoy the bond and friendship he was developing with Lance, and then he had to just go and do this. 

Keith had spent a lot of time alone, and making friendships wasn’t something he specialized in. He’d usually make sure he didn’t get attached to people, as that never ended well. Maybe this was just all his own fault for letting himself get too close to Lance. 

All the introspective thinking that went into analyzing his and Lance’s relationship was exactly what Keith hated. It was easier to just attack back with the same anger Lance had been showing him, and so, he did. 

“Hey, why do you call Krolia ‘Krolia’?” Lance spoke up suddenly. Keith was taken back by such a blunt question after so many minutes of silence. “Why don’t you call her ‘mom’?” 

“Why do you wanna know?” Keith asked. 

“Just curious.” 

Keith looked over at Lance. He was kicking at pebbles as he walked. 

“I didn’t really grow up with her, so it feels kind of weird,” Keith responded with. 

Lance didn’t reply. He just glanced over at Keith and shrugged. The day Keith understood anything that guy did would be a miracle. 

The two walked on in silence. There were two suns on the planet they were on and both blazed hot on the land. Keith was used to heat after spending time in the desert back on Earth, but he was still starting to feel damp and uncomfortable in his insulated paladin suit. 

He looked over at Lance. His hair was starting to stick to his face due to the sweat, but Lance didn’t look bothered by it. His hair had grown a bit longer during their voyage to Earth. Keith didn’t know if it was on purpose or if he’d finally given up on keeping well groomed during his time in space. 

“Did Allura give us any specifics on what food to get?” Keith asked. The marketplace was in their view now. 

“No, but that makes me kinda nervous,” Lance replied with a sigh. “What if this alien food does, like, weird stuff to humans? What if all our hair turns white like Shiro's? That would be a tragedy.” 

Keith looked over at Lance and Lance looked over at Keith. The two smirked and chuckled at the joke. It seemed to relieve some of the tension between the two, but it also felt like there was a hand squeezing at Keith’s heart as he looked back on a time when he and Lance had been good friends. 

“We’ll just buy what looks the most normal,” Keith said, getting the two back on track. 

That was when things fell apart. 

The easily identifiable sound of a Galra ship could be heard, and sure enough when Keith turned around he spotted just that. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” Lance exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Keith agreed. “It doesn’t look like too big of a fleet, though. We should call for backup.” 

“I was actually talking about that,” Lance corrected, pointing at the distance to the left of the Galra ship. 

There was a massive sandstorm heading their direction. The dark sand swept up in the winds was starting to block the sunlight. It was moving unnervingly fast and would reach them in no time. 

“What the hell do we do?” Lance asked. 

Keith looked between the two threats, panic starting to rise within him.

“We… run.” 

The two sprinted back to where Lance had docked the Red Lion. It was in a secluded cave facing away from the Galra threat and would offer them protection from the storm. Keith’s heart pounded and his lungs burned as he ran as fast as he could to try and beat the winds. Lance was right alongside him, breathing hard but moving fast. 

The two of them realized that they were close to the cave, but not close enough. The storm would engulf them before they reached safety. 

“Grab on,” Keith instructed, holding his arm out. 

“What?” Lance said, looking at Keith’s arm as if he was crazy. 

“So we don’t get separated! Grab on!” 

Lance looked Keith up and down. Finally, after a few seconds of hesitation, Lance grabbed his hand. 

As they ran, the sand surpassed them and their visibility deteriorated. Keith went from seeing thirty feet in front of himself, to ten, to five. He felt stones pound against his helmet and armor and he was grateful he had the ensemble on. 

As wind pushed the two around, Keith felt as if all his senses were leaving him; they were betraying him. He felt as if he couldn’t rely on anything he felt. He didn’t know if they were running in the right direction or if they were running at all. 

As Keith looked around frantically just to see nothing, he started to feel more anxious. The only thing that kept him centered was the hand placed firmly in his own. He could see up Lance’s arm but he couldn’t see his face. Still, even just his arm was enough to disprove the isolation Keith was feeling, and it kept him going. He wanted that hand to be in his forever, and that thought confused him more than the sandstorm did. 

Finally, after what felt like years, the two reached the mountain. The wind made things difficult, but the two felt around the rock wall they were against. After what felt like ages of this, Keith felt a tug in his hand. Lance was pulling him somewhere. Keith let him lead him, and is if someone had flipped a switch, Keith was out of the sand and his senses were back. 

The two collapsed in the cave and breathed heavy, both the running and the effort to keep steady in heavy winds tiring them to exhaustion. 

“You okay?” Keith asked while removing his helmet. 

“Uh, yeah. You?” a rock had cracked Lances helmet pretty bad and he had a small cut on his cheek. Other than that, he looked alright. 

“Yeah, i’m good,” Keith said, finally starting to catch his breath. 

Keith felt a sudden yank. That’s when he realized that he and Lance had still been holding hands. Lance had noticed first and pulled away fast. The two scooted away a bit, sharing awkward glances. 

“Uh, when is this going to clear?” Lance asked, clearly not looking to focus on their prolonged hand holding. 

“How should I know?” 

“Why are there Galra here?” 

“Again, how should I know?”

“I mean, you are one,” Lance said with an eyebrow raise. 

Keith sent him a glare. “We should bunker down. The winds might not slow for a while.” 

That’s what brought them to where they were now, Lance complaining that they were stuck. 

“When the air clears up we’ll be able to call for help and get out of here,” Keith told him upon discovering that none of their messages to the team were getting through. 

“But we’re still stuck for now,” Lance mumbled. “This will just delay us more. I told you going to get food was stupid.” 

The two had relocated into the Red Lion, which was in the cave with them. Lance sat in the pilot's chair, laying with his legs over one arm of the chair and his back against the other. Keith was sitting in one of the retractable chairs behind Lance’s. Lance’s chair was swiveled around to face Keith. 

Keith sighed and looked at Lance, who was pouting. After a few moments of hesitation, he asked a question he had been meaning to ask all mission. 

“Why have you been in such a work mode?” Keith asked. “You’re in such a rush to get everything done. You don’t even take any breaks. Why is that?” 

Lance looked at Keith, a bit shocked by the question. His face hardened slightly, and Keith thought he was going to yell. Instead, his face softened into a look of sadness. 

“I guess… i’m just in a rush to get back to my family.” He paused for a few seconds, staring at the blank wall of the Red Lion. “Before, I kept thinking ‘it’ll be okay, i’ll get home eventually’ and now i’m going home. It seems so real, so it seems like things will fall apart. Like… now that we’re actually on our way home to Earth, something bad will happen to my family, and i won’t have been quick enough.” 

“We’re all in a rush to get back,” Keith said, “but if we go too fast, we as a team are gonna fall apart and we’ll never get back there.” 

“I know,” Lance said, holding his arms in the air and letting them fall against his thighs, “But you don’t get it. You don’t have anything back on Earth. All your family, all your friends, they’re right up here with you. I have a huge family down in Cuba, and they all think i’m dead. You don’t understand what that feels like.” 

Keith was tempted to get angry at Lance’s comment about him, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t because he was right. He did have everything in space, and he really wasn’t missing much back on Earth. He didn’t understand. He couldn’t understand. 

“We’ll get there eventually,” Keith said. 

He looked over at Lance, and the two made eye contact. Lance’s face still had a softness, but it was… different now. They looked at each other's eyes as if the most interesting novel in the world was hidden in them, and Keith again felt nostalgic for his and Lance’s friendship before Keith had left.

The two sat in silence in the dark and tense atmosphere of the Red Lion. Every second that passed felt like an hour. 

Keith thought about Lance’s words. They explained perfectly why he had been prioritising work over everything else as of late. Again, Keith couldn’t relate to having all your family down on earth, but he could relate to having a mission. He felt a pang of sympathy for Lance, and he felt bad for all the times he and his friends had been nagging on Lance to just take a break. 

That didn’t explain why Lance had been trying so hard to avoid Keith, though. It also wasn’t an excuse for the way Lance had been treating him. 

“We should sleep,” Keith instricted. “We don’t know how long it’ll be before this clears up. If the galra are still out there we’ll need to fight them.” 

“Okay,” was all Lance replied with. He’d been spinning in his chair but stopped upon hearing Keith’s words. 

Keith tried his best to get comfortable in his chair. He layed like Lance was, with his legs draped over the side of the chair. He turned so that he was facing away from Lance. 

He dozed off a few times, but despite his tired and aching body, he just couldn’t go to sleep. He heard Lance move around a few times, so he guessed that he was in the same position that Keith was in. Keith heard his chair swivel around and around again, so he must’ve given up. 

This thought was confirmed for him when Lance started talking. 

“Keith?” He asked softly, a bit of hesitation to his voice. “You asleep?” 

Keith didn’t answer. He didn’t know why he didn’t. Maybe he was curious. 

“Keeeeith?” Lance asked again. “Keeeeiiiiith? Buddy?” 

Keith hadn’t heard Lance call him ‘buddy’ in a while, and his heart jumped at the sound of the old nickname. 

“Guess you’re asleep,” Lance concluded. “Hm, I could say whatever i want to you right now. You’re ugly. You have a horrible fashion sense. Your hair is stupid.” 

Keith got so offended he almost turned around and blew his cover, but he remained still where he laid. 

“Or, that’s what I keep telling myself at least. I’ve grown on your hair and horrible fashion sense now. I tried denying this for a long time but… it’s kinda cute. And you’re definitely not ugly. That’s kind of the problem.” 

Keith was listening with great focus, a deep blush creeping up on his face without even realizing it. He was starting to think that he was in too deep, but still, he pretended to sleep. 

Lance didn’t say anything for a bit longer, and Keith thought that that was all, but then he spoke up again. His voice felt longing and sad, and it wasn’t a tone Keith heard from Lance a lot. 

“You know, sometimes i get mad at you about how we don’t have the friendship we used to have. That’s when i have to remind myself that… that’s my own fault. It’s my fault, and I know that.” 

Keith’s heart was really starting to beat now. He was getting the answer to all these deep questions he’d been holding onto for months. He felt like he’d just hacked into a government file; that he wasn’t supposed to be hearing this information. 

“It’s just… you’ve got a mom in space now. And you’ve got a dog, and you’ve got Shiro, and ever since you’ve gotten back from your big 2 year mission… you get alone with everyone so much better. What would you need me for? You’ve got everything you need, and i’m just… not a part of that. I guess i just distanced myself before you could get the opportunity to hurt me.” 

Keith had wanted to call Lance an idiot many times, but right then and there he wanted to do more than just call him an idiot. He wanted to smack him across the face and scream ‘you’re an idiot!’ right in his ear. 

How could Lance ever feel like he wasn’t a part of Keith’s life? How could he ever feel like he wasn’t important to Keith? Of course, Keith wasn’t the best at emoting, but he still thought it was pretty obvious that he cared about Lance. 

Just when Keith thought he’d heard it all, Lance kept talking. His voice was still sad and distant, as if he wasn’t talking to a sleeping Keith but instead to the universe itself. 

“Of course, there’s more to it than that. The reason i’m so scared of that rejection from you is because of something I only started to realize when you were gone. It’s because… I like you. Like… like like you. In a not ‘friend’ way… and i know that you’d never like me back, so why bother?” 

Keith’s eyes were wide with shock where he laid, though luckily his back was to Lance. His heart beat fast and there were butterflies in his stomach. 

Lance… had a crush on _Keith_? 

No. He couldn’t have heard that correctly. He must’ve meant something else. There was no way that Lance, the ladies man, had a crush on Keith. That just… wasn’t possible. 

Though, Keith knew he heard correctly, and he knew exactly what Lance meant. 

Keith thought back to Lance’s aversion of eye contact and hand holding. It made sense. That’s why he’d been avoiding Keith, because he thought that Keith would reject him. 

Would Keith have rejected him, though?

Probably not. Keith thought back to the hand held in his, anchoring him in the midst of the storm. He thought of Lance’s deep blue eyes and how they seemed to be the most beautiful thing in the universe. He thought of the late nights he used to spend with Lance, the two talking about past lives and the future, and Keith thought of how beautiful Lance’s face looked when he was talking about something he was passionate about. 

Yes, Keith liked Lance back. It seemed… too late, though, for anything to happen between them. Lance had already given up. 

That made something deep in Keith break. Some optimism, some future of happiness. Something. 

Keith heard Lance sigh longingly, and then he got up out of his chair. 

Keith made an effort to look like he was sleeping. He closed his eyes and lengthened his breaths. This was hard to focus on, though. It was hard to focus on anything other than the fact that… Lance had a crush on Keith. 

Keith heard Lance’s footsteps head towards the door of the Red Lion, and then a few seconds later they walked back to Keith. Lance seemed to stop for a few seconds, maybe looking at Keith. Then, he shook him awake. 

Keith tried his best to look tired, as if he had actually been woken up from a nap. “Hm?” 

“The sand’s clearing up, but the Galra ship is still here. We should get going and explore.” 

“Oh. Alright.”

As the two left the cave, they both seemed to be in some effort to repress their emotions. Lance was acting like he felt fine, but Keith could see a sadness in his eyes; he could see the sadness he’d heard in his voice only minutes ago. Keith tried to remain calm and look like he hadn’t just heard his teammate confess attraction to him. 

“The Galra are raiding the market place,” Keith observed. “We need to help out.”

“Coms still aren’t working,” Lance said. “There must be something in the sand blocking the signal. Looks like we’re alone in this.” 

Damn. Now that Keith was aware for his feelings for Lance, he couldn’t escape them. Even that last sentence Lance spoke made Keith's heart jump.

“Uh, yeah. Let’s attack the galra at the marketplace first, then we’ll hit the ship,” Keith said. 

“Alrighty.” 

Lance didn’t have his helmet, as it was broken, so he had to blink sand out of his eyes every few minutes. Keith couldn’t stop looking at him. 

When they got to the marketplace, they found it empty of civilians due to the storm, but the Galra were having a ball. They were smashing stands and stealing any food they could.

Keith nodded for Lance to go to the other side of the marketplace. When he was in view, he nodded again and they started attacking. They made sure to go be stealthy at first, as to not attract too much attention when there were still many soldiers up. 

Keith spun and slash with his sword, throwing it occasionally and getting into a good rhythm. He always felt that fighting was like dancing. It was just a series of steps that relied on your rhythm. Keith was awful at actual dancing, but he was amazing at fighting. 

Every once in awhile Keith would glance over at how Lance was doing. He was switching between using his gun and his sword, transforming his beyard between the two with lightning speed. 

Keith remembered seeing Lance use his sword the first time. He’d seen the fire in his eyes and the determination in his movements. Keith remembered feeling something as he’d gazed on at Lance’s new weapon, and Keith was just now realizing that that ‘something’ was attraction. 

The two had officially gained the attention of all the soldiers, and a big fight commenced. The two dodged swords and bullets all while taking down as many soldiers as they could. They met in the middle of the marketplace, now fighting together. 

Lance shot a soldier sneaking behind Keith and Keith threw his sword into a soldier with his gun pointed to Lance. 

It was then that Keith realized how angry he was. He was angry at Lance. 

How could he have given up so easily? Why hasn't he tried admitting his feelings? 

Keith felt like Lance had taken away any say Keith had. He hadn’t given him the opportunity to make a decision, he had decided for Keith that he didn’t like Lance back. That wasn’t even true, though. 

If Lance had just gotten over himself and admitted his feelings, the tension the two had had between them for their entire journey to Earth could’ve been avoided.

Keith used all that emotion to help him fight, slashing in a big arc and taking out solider after soldier. He didn’t even realize when he and Lance killed the last soldier. He spun around, looking for another target, but there were none left. 

“Well, looks like we don’t need to hit the ship,” Lance said, gesturing to the Galra ship that was now flying away. “The sand’s finally cleared up. Do you think they’ll call for help?

“No,” Keith said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. “I think they were a pirate ship. Only a pirate ship would have flown away at a threat. Victory or death, remember?” 

“Oh, yeah,” Lance said, smoothing back his hair with his free hand. “We should just pack some food and go, then.” 

The two grabbed some of the sacks of food the soldiers had been trying to steal, and then they started walking back to the cave after leaving money for what they took. 

“Should we call the team now? The storm’s cleared up,” Lance asked when they began walking.

Keith shrugged. “No point in it now.” 

“True.” 

The two didn’t talk much as they walked. Lance said choice words about the mission, occasionally boasting about a certain kill he made. Keith would only reply with a few words. His mind was a bit occupied. 

Throughout the walk, he seemed to map out every milestone in his and Lance’s relationship. He noticed things he hadn’t noticed before. Things like how Keith got unusually upset when Lance denied their “bonding moment” and how Lance seemed to put in so much effort in being Keith’s ‘right hand man’ after Shiro had disappeared.

There were so many emotions in Keith’s head. He’d finally gotten closure on his past, Shiro was safe, and they were going back to Earth. For the first time in a while, Keith had felt like his mind was nice and sorted. Then this had to go and happen. 

Keith was starting to wonder why a prominent emotion he was feeling was anger. Like he’d already figured out, he was angry at Lance for not giving him a say in how this whole situation unfolded. But maybe he was also upset at himself. Upset for not noticing his crush on Lance sooner. 

The two finally got back to cave. 

Keith looked at Lance. He’d just said some pun Keith had only half listened to, and now he was grinning like an idiot. It made Keith’s heart beat fast. It made Keith’s heart beat for Lance. 

Keith had a sudden thought. He was so mad at Lance for not giving Keith a chance to act, so why didn’t Keith act? Was he going to do the same thing Lance did and just ignore this all? Not act on any of it? 

As soon as that thought had come into his head, Keith threw the bags of food he was holding to the floor. 

“Why are you such an idiot?” He exclaimed to Lance. 

“Excuse me?” Lance said. He was about to walk into the Red Lion, but upon the accusation he stepped closer to Keith. 

“You’re an idiot.” 

Lance scoffed, offense stinging his breath. “Care to explain?” 

“How could you think you aren’t important to me?” Keith asked with narrow eyes. “Why did you just _assume_ that you don’t matter to me?” 

Lance’s offended face turned more into one of worried confusion. “What do you mean?” 

“You know what I mean,” Keith said, anger still in his voice. He spoke quieter this time, though. “The things you said to me when you thought I was asleep.” 

Lance inhaled sharply, his eyes widening. You could practically see the dread on his face, along with… fear. Maybe a bit of sadness, too. Keith could understand where all of that came from. Lance had admitted what were probably his biggest secrets to no one, only to discover that someone had actually been listening. 

“Keith, i-” 

“You’ve been a jerk to me for months, just because of something you thought i’d do,” Keith continued on. “You’ve been making me feel like I did something wrong, when you didn’t give me any say in the matter! That’s just- you’re an idiot!” 

Keith took his helmet off and threw it to the ground, alongside the food. 

Lance looked completely dumbfounded. “How am I an idiot?” He asked, managing to string together a sentence. 

“You didn’t even think to talk to me about all of this. You could have avoided so much pain for both you and me if you’d just talked to me! But no. You just had to make that decision for me.”

“What decision?” Lance asked. His voice was starting to rise with Keith’s. 

“The decision that I don’t like you back!” Keith spat out. 

“I didn’t- you… Keith, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lance said, his glare intensifying. He took a few more steps towards Keith.

“I don’t? Let’s recap,” Keith said. “You figured out that you had a crush on me when i was gone, i came back with my mom, you assumed that i didn’t need you anymore, and you assumed that i didn’t like you back. And because of what you just assumed, you’ve been a complete asshole to me!” 

“Don’t pretend like you understand all of this!” Lance practically growled, his anger now matching Keith’s. Their voices sounded layered and bold as they bounced against the dark cave walls. It was then that Lance threw down the food he’d been holding as well.

“There’s not much to understand. It’s pretty black and white!” 

“No it’s not, you dick!” Lance screamed. “ _None_ of this is ‘black and white’. Nothing i’ve- i’ve been feeling since you got back is ‘black and white’!” 

“Then explain it to me then!” Keith said, his arms held out in front of him. 

“Okay. Okay, fine. You said that I didn’t even think to talk to you about… about liking you. You don’t know how fucking wrong you are. I’ve _agonized_ over this for _months_! Basically everyday i had this mental conversation with myself: ‘maybe i’ll say something to him today’ ‘no, now isn’t a good time’ ‘maybe later’ ‘what if it messes up the team dynamic?’” 

To Keith’s surprise, there was a thin line of tears starting to form in Lance’s eyes. With each sentence he spoke he stepped closer to Keith, continuing to raise his voice. There was so much venom to his words. Keith thought he’d be burned from them alone. 

Lance continued on. “You think it’s so simple! You think i just confess that i like you and we date forever, all happy and gay! This… it’s been terrifying, Keith! I- i barely even knew i liked guys before i liked you, and if you rejected me, there’d be nowhere to run! We’re stuck in space, and on top of this whole dilema i’ve endured over you, i’ve just been trying to get back to my family!” 

Keith’s own anger was starting to dissipate as he listened to Lance, but there was still a spark of it there. The tension was so tight between the two boys that it could be cut with a knife. 

“So, Keith, what i’ve- what i’ve felt has not been ‘black and white’. It’s been terrifying, and it’s caused me anxiety on top of the anxiety i already had about going back to earth. You don’t know how hard it’s been… wanting to- to kiss you, and touch you, and just _talk_ to you… to do _something_. Avoiding you has practically been the only option for me.” 

“Oh yeah?” Keith snapped, “That wasn’t the only option. There was another option.” 

“And what’s that?” Lance said bitterly. 

“To _do_ that something. To just… act on it. But you didn’t.” 

The two looked at each other for what felt like forever. They breathed hard and their eyebrows were pulled into a look of anger, their eyes piercing into each others heads. 

“No. I didn’t,” Lance said angrily. Keith wondered if some of that anger was directed at himself. 

“So,” Keith said, “Make it right.” 

Lance looked at Keith for a few seconds, his eyes holding a deep determination. It reminded Keith of when he’d seen him use his sword for the first time. 

Lance took a few steps forward, practically stomping. He closed the space between Keith and himself as he grabbed Keith by the top of his breastplate, pulling the two roughly chest to chest. 

He hesitated a few seconds, looking into Keith’s eyes, and then his lips were on Keith’s. 

They kissed, and they kissed, and they kissed, and they kissed. 

It was rough at first, teeth pumping into teeth, lips red and probably bruised. They kissed as if it was a new drug and they’d do anything to get more of. Their breathing was loud and heavy, matching the messy lip smashing. They’d taken off their breastplates to get closer to each other.

Slowly, it got more longing. It got more sturdy, and deeper. It was like kissing was an old memory they wanted to bring back to life. Lance’s arms were wrapped around Keith’s waist, and Keith’s hands were gently in Lance’s hair. 

Then, they slowed down. They’d kiss, then break apart and look at eachother, then go back to kissing. They’d put their foreheads together for a few seconds, catching their breath. Eventually, they only exchanged small pecks, as if neither of them wanted to be the first to stop. 

That decision was taken out of their hands when a voice sounded from the ground. 

“Keith, Lance, are you there?” It was Pidge's voice coming from Keith’s helmet. 

Keith and Lance looked into eachothers eyes, it dawning for the first time what they’d just done. Neither of them, red lipped and love eyed, wanted to let go of eachother. Keith had to, though. 

He picked up his helmet. “Yeah, we’re here.” His voice sounded rough and full of emotion.

“Are you guys okay? My scanner picked up some sort of storm on your planet.” 

“Um. We’re fine, and we got the food. We’ll explain when we get back.” 

“Okay,” Pidge said. “Get back soon. We have some new information to go over.” 

Keith put his helmet back on the floor and walked up to Lance. “We, uh, we’ve gotta go.” 

Lance nodded, not saying anything. The two stood there for a few seconds, all traces of their previous fight gone. It was like a magnet was trying to pull the two together, something in the universe trying to get them together. Despite this, the two grabbed their food and helmets and brought them into the red lion. 

Lance sat in the pilot’s chair, powering the lion on. He didn’t go, though. He just sat there, clearly deep in thought. He sighed, as if he was letting all those pent up emotions out in one moment. 

“Keith,” he said, looking up at the boy who stood next to him. His eyes were longing. They showed an unended story. “Me and you… Where do we go from here?” 

Keith thought about the question for a few seconds. He thought about what the two had been through together, and how they used to talk about their past lives. He thought about how they used to talk about what the future might hold. 

In none of their discussions about the future did this happen… Keith and Lance, together.

That was okay, though. The unexpected held so many possibilities. It was intimidating, but it was so exciting. 

Keith pulled Lance’s chin up from where he sat. He leaned over and pressed his lips soundly to the other paladins, and he felt all those possibilities. Lance smiled up at him, so much emotion behind his dazed eyes.

Keith smiled back down at him. “We’ll figure it out.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, check out my other works and my tumblr ([-Lanceisthebest](https://lanceisthebest.tumblr.com/)  
> ) for more!
> 
> (kudos and comments are very appreciated <3)


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